Lunar Cycle
by Lyndotia
Summary: Reneey and Lyn go to see New Moon at midnight. After the movie, everything goes haywire when they wind up in the woods in the dark. Then Reneey starts to act strange and Jasper shows up talking about how she's dangerous and must be killed...
1. Topsy Turvy

Disclaimer: We do not own Twilight or any of the copyrighted stuff.

A/N: Lyn: So we're doing an insert-into-Twilight now!

Reneey: Because we got bored and Lyn is obsessed with Jacob Black again since the New Moon movie is coming out right before her birthday.

Lyn: Shut up! Like you're not obsessed!

Reneey: … Well you shut up!

Lyn: How about we both shut up and write the story?

---

**Chapter One – Topsy Turvy**

"I still say Jacob should have been the main character," Lyndotia Elumo said as she and her best friend, Reneey Umbra, waited outside the movie theater at 11:59.

Lyn, at 5'9", was pretty much the tallest person in the line mostly comprised of obsessive fangirls of Twilight and her four-inch stiletto heels didn't really help that. Reneey, at 5' even, was one of the shortest despite her three-inch gold platforms.

"Edward sucks! The shapeshifters act more like vampires than he does!" Reneey complained as she stood. "Besides, we're only here to see hot guys with no shirts on!"

"Mm… Taylor Lautner is a yummy Jacob," Lyn said with a wink and a crooked grin. "And for once, one of the hot actors is actually my age! There should be a hallelujah chorus for that!"

Lyn was 17, a Tennessee-born country girl whose Southern drawl seemed out of place in Philadelphia. However, she had come specifically for the purpose of seeing New Moon at midnight with her best friend.

Reneey giggled. "I love Seth's actor; he's all cute and Alice and Jasper are hot… basically everybody but Edward and Bella."

Lyn snickered. "Dude, Robert Pattinson couldn't even lose his gut for the movie. Taylor Lautner put on 30 pounds of muscle to fit the role. Not hard to tell who the more dedicated actor is… Not to mention the sexiest."

"Here you are," said a smiling woman in a theater uniform as she handed Lyn and Reneey tickets for the midnight showing. Lyn took the ticket then blinked as the woman walked away. "Uh… lady? Don't you want my money for this?"

"Dude, Lyn! If she doesn't want money, then we'll just go," Reneey whispered to Lyn as she dragged her off.

"Wh – hey!" Lyn objected. "But – oh, fine, whatever! If they ask, I'll pay later."

"Or we could save that money for skirts!" Reneey squealed.

Lyn twitched. "What is your obsession with skirts?" Then she snickered and added, "Not that I'm much better when it comes to boots… But at least I bargain hunt! I mean, two pairs of black leather boots for $50 isn't a bad price."

"Three skirts for forty bucks isn't bad either! Mine are all under fifteen bucks!" Reneey complained.

So they gave the worker their tickets; he smiled and pointed the way to the theater – number 14 of the Neshaminy Mall.

Two hours later, the movie was over but Lyn and Reneey were still in the theater. Lyn was still rambling about Taylor Lautner being hot while Reneey was searching under every seat with a frantic look on her face. Finally Lyn ran out of references from the movie to talk about and noticed what her friend was doing.

"Uh… Rea? What are you doing? Everybody else is gone…"

"But I dropped Larry!" Reneey complained.

Lyn groaned. "You and that eyeliner pen! For the ten thousandth time, _it's just a piece of makeup_! You can get another one!"

"Larry is special!" Reneey snapped. "Now help me find him!"

Lyn sighed heavily and knelt down in the dark. "Fine, but if I get gum on my new boots, I'm gonna kill you."

"Hey, kill the gum!" Reneey objected.

"The gum isn't alive, Reneey, therefore it can't be dead."

"Ow! Get off my foot!"

"I'm not on your foot!"

"Well, something's on my foot!"

"Then shove it off!"

Reneey did and Lyn promptly went flying backwards and hit her head on something hard. Shaking her head and trying to blink away those black shiny things that pop up in front of your eyes, she said slowly, "Okay… It may have been me…"

Reneey snickered and Lyn glared and then she realized that it was much darker than it should be inside a movie theater. Had they turned the screen off? Blinking, she looked over her shoulder and realized she hadn't hit her head on a seat at all but a tree trunk. How the heck had she gotten outside?!

"Uh… Rea? Do you remember leaving the movie theater?"

Reneey stared. "Movie theater?"

Lyn twitched. "Don't tell me you forgot where you were again."

"I know exactly where I am," Reneey snapped in an uncharacteristically cold way. Well, uncharacteristic for her while she was talking to Lyn, anyway.

Lyn stared. "You do? How?"

Reneey rolled her dark eyes. "I have my ways. You know my name but you don't know that?"

That was when Lyn really started to get concerned. "What do you mean? Of course I know your name, I'm your best friend."

Reneey laughed. And it wasn't her usual amused giggle but a disbelieving sort of half laugh, half snort. "Right. Who are you anyway?"

"… Okay, Rea, not funny anymore," Lyn said with a crease between her eyebrows. But as her green eyes searched her friend's dark brown ones, she had to admit that something was… off. That expression wasn't like Reneey at all.

"And why the hell are you calling me Rea?" Reneey went on, still in that half accusing, half suspicious tone.

Lyn considered the options here. Reneey wasn't that good of a liar. Well, to most people, maybe, but not to Lyn. Then again, Lyn might as well have had an internal lie detector/prophecy machine in her head for the way she read people and likely outcomes so that might have just been her. Regardless, Reneey was not lying.

Something about Reneey WAS very different. Her eyes, her voice, even the way she was standing were all more independent and self-assured than Lyn had ever known her friend to act before.

Then there was the fact that they were suddenly in the middle of nowhere and Reneey claimed to know where they were but Lyn did not. Reneey had a horrendous sense of direction; Lyn was the hillbilly with the internal compass that pointed toward safety even when she had never been somewhere before.

And the fact of the matter was, right now that internal compass was pulling her away from Reneey as hard as it could. There was something about the normally happily random and crazy fifteen-year-old that had set off nine out of ten warning bells in Lyn's head. She was too cool and aloof; almost calculating. And Reneey never thought about anything before she acted.

Lyn was just considering the option that she might be having some sort of schizophrenic breakdown when a low growl suddenly slid from between Reneey's teeth. A shudder ran down the black-haired girl's spine and she hissed, "You should have listened when I told you to go away…"

Now Lyn's feet were screaming at her to move but she held her ground, shifting them only slightly to a more braced stance, preparing for some sort of attack or lunge. She was a trained fighter; she wasn't afraid of confrontation and she definitely wasn't afraid of Reneey, the girl so very untrained and undisciplined that Lyn had once pinned her to the floor by putting a copy of the _CQ Researcher_ on her back.

Reneey's hands clenched into fists and a shock ran through Lyn's system as she felt the energy rolling off Reneey's skin like electricity. It didn't make sense; even Lyn's sensei who had taught her to sense and manipulate ki energy had never produced anything like this.

"Reneey, are you… How are you doing that?"

"Hm? You can feel it coming?" Reneey growled out, her voice becoming rougher and lower as she spoke. Then her teeth suddenly glinted much whiter and sharper than they had been only a minute before as she grinned and added, "That's unusual for a human. You must be very aware… You'll make a powerful sister."

Then it all clicked in Lyn's mind. Reneey could not be doing this because she did not have the training. She was in the middle of who knew where in the dark and had no idea how she got there. So there was only one logical conclusion.

Without even thinking about it, Lyn shifted her weight back into a deeper, more aggressive stance, her green eyes narrowing into slits. "Who are you, where have you brought me, and what have you done with Reneey?"

"Your friend is gone," said a low male voice from somewhere Lyn couldn't see. "And if you don't stay very, very still and let me deal with her, she'll make you like her, too."

Lyn tensed, adrenalin pounding through her veins as her body went into high alert at the sound of another voice she didn't know, but Reneey let out a growl that was more animal than human and her face wrinkled into a scowl. Except the scowl didn't go away – it only deepened, carving lines into her face until it too took on a wild, animalistic look.

"Jasper, no!" a high voice trilled and Lyn caught the flurry of movement out of the corner of her eye just in time to see a tall blond man and a petite, dark-haired woman appear seemingly out of nowhere. The woman's hand was on the man's arm like she was restraining him and the moonlight refracted off their skin, making it seem to glow.

Lyn took a step away from them at the same time as both their eyes flicked toward her. They were dark but Lyn couldn't make out a color in the dim light. Of course, she didn't really need to; between the voices and the pale skin and the name she had just heard, there was no doubt.

It was only when her head started spinning that Lyn realized she had forgotten to breathe. Once she had breath again, the next step was to find her voice.

In typical Lyn fashion, it was more accusing and suspicious than afraid as she asked in a voice that sounded rough and too deep to be effeminate in comparison with the pale woman's, "Who are you?"

"I'm Alice," the pale woman said with a faint smile. It looked too strained to be very real, though, and her grip didn't loosen on the man's arm. "And this is Jasper. What's your name?"

"Lyn, but who cares? What the heck is going on here? How did we even get here and what's wrong with Reneey?"

"Must be her first transformation," Jasper muttered under his breath, not quite low enough that Lyn couldn't hear. "She'll be unstable – you know she'll kill the girl if we don't stop her."

"Actually, I don't _know_ anything," Alice responded in an almost irritated-sounding voice. "That's why you can't – I can't see it and you can't fight it alone!"

"Would you stop arguing with each other and tell me what the heck's going on!" Lyn half yelled, still tensed as if to fight even though she was becoming more and more sure by the second that she had absolutely zero chance if it came to that. Not that she wouldn't try anyway, of course. But the facts were that, however _whatever_ this was had happened, those _were_ Alice and Jasper because they had moved far too fast for normal people and whatever was happening to Reneey, Alice was afraid.

Then Lyn looked back at Reneey and understood why. Reneey wasn't just acting weird. Her hands were curling into clawed paws, hair spreading across her body, her mouth elongating into a snout. It looked like a much slower and more painful process than the way the shapeshifters in the Twilight books had changed so that left only one conclusion.

Somehow, they had wound up in some adaptation of Twilight. Reneey was a werewolf. And Jasper currently wanted to kill her.

If it wasn't for the fact that it kind of felt like the world had just been turned upside down, Lyn might have laughed at the irony that this was just the sort of luck she had always had anyway.


	2. To Kill or Not to Kill

Disclaimer: We do not own Twilight or any of the copyrighted stuff.

A/N: Lyn: Whee! We write more!

Reneey: Even though I've only read the first book so have no idea what's going on! XD

Lyn: Well, I've read them all, so I can make up for that. XD

---

**Chapter Two – To Kill or Not to Kill**

"Alice, I'll be fine," Jasper hissed through his bared teeth, eyes never leaving Reneey. "Would you rather walk away and let it butcher the human?"

Reneey let out a snarl as all of her werewolf features clawed their way out of her and into the open. Letting out a howl, she lunged for Lyn. True werewolves being both faster and stronger than vampires, she was there before Jasper or Alice could interfere and almost before Lyn could even register the movement.

Then something happened – Reneey stopped right about an inch from Lyn's face, her snout directly lined up with Lyn's nose, her eyes boring into Lyn's. Snarling, she went to turn away for some reason that no one could explain. That is, until she felt Jasper's nails sink into her side.

Reneey let out a howl of pain, one that shook the trees and carved itself into Lyn's memory.

Before Lyn could take all of this in enough to move, a huge, sandy wolf raced into the clearing. Its wide brown eyes were human, like Reneey's – probably more so since some of Reneey's humanity was lost in the transformation, not like the wolves of La Push.

_I found them!_ Seth reported to the pack, sending mental images of where he was to Sam and the others. Five other wolves altered course and hurried to catch up with him but Paul, Quil, and Embry were on the other side of the reservation. Sam and Jacob were closing fast, Sam from the north and Jacob from the south where they had been running their own sweeps of the border.

"Jasper, we're on the treaty line!" Alice cried when she saw the shapeshifter.

"We haven't crossed it," Jasper growled. "And this hardly counts as killing a human."

Reneey recovered a second later and threw Jasper off of her – and straight through several trees. But as soon as he stopped flying backward, Jasper was on his feet again, back in place to attack her.

Before he could though, Seth jumped onto Reneey's back and sank his teeth into her neck – not enough to kill, but to knock her out. Reneey screamed in pain and tried to shake him off her.

"Get off that thing, stupid mutt!" Jasper ordered, snarling. "You and your friends have never encountered the likes of a true Child of the Moon before – it will kill you!"

"Get the freaking heck off her – she didn't do anything!" Lyn finally managed to insert into the debate over whether her friend lived or died.

Putting on bursts of speed at the same time, Sam and Jacob broke through the trees simultaneously. Already aware of the situation, Sam ordered, _Seth, get the human girl out of here – take her back to La Push, it's too dangerous here._

The tiredness was already wearing Reneey down. The transformation took a lot out of her and though she healed quickly, she couldn't produce blood any faster than anyone else. Her movements went slower with every second; her face slowly went back to normal and soon there was a girl with pale skin, a haystack of black hair, long scars, and a sandy wolf on top of her – keeping her warm and licking the wounds he and Jasper had given her.

Sam understood as he saw the girl through Seth's eyes. Of course Seth would not obey him now, and now there was absolutely no question about letting the bloodsucker kill her.

_I'll take the girl,_ Jacob said quickly, darting forward and, without giving Lyn a choice in the matter, grabbing her sweater in his teeth and tossing her onto his back before heading off in a dead run toward La Push.

"Good, it's out," Jasper said, looking satisfied as Reneey reverted back to her original form. "Strike now, before it heals."

Seth bared his teeth at Jasper as he stood protectively in front of her as if saying, "Try it – I dare you."

Reneey let out a low, pained moan as her eyes opened in slits; then all she saw was blackness.

Sam took a defensive stance beside Seth, his hackles raised, and so did Embry, who ran into the clearing a second later. Jasper stared in disbelief.

"What is wrong with you mutts?! Do you not know what that thing _is_?! What it can _do_?!"

Alice bit her lip as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Jasper; it's taken care of. We have to go now. There won't be trouble for another month."

Jasper snarled at the wolves. "You would protect that – _thing_?!"

Seth's answering growl was more than enough answer. Quil and Paul showed up at that moment too, taking their places with their brothers.

Jasper growled too. "Fine. When it infects everyone in your tribe, we'll be back. All of us."

He and Alice disappeared into the trees and Sam sighed before instructing Seth to phase back so he could carry the werewolf – it would be much easier that way, anyway.

Seth didn't like the way Sam said 'werewolf' – like she was any worse than them?! – but changed back, slipped on his shorts, and picked her up.

The wolves looked at each other and sighed collectively. Just what were they going to do?

---

Jacob got back to La Push in no time, Lyn clinging to his back since she had no other choice unless she wanted to kill herself trying to roll off at sixty miles an hour. When he finally stopped a short distance from the nearest building, just to make sure no one would be around in case she freaked out, Lyn instantly leapt off him, rolling once to break her fall. By the time she was on her feet again, Jacob had retreated into the trees to phase back and had returned in human form, wearing a pair of jean shorts.

"So… um… you're probably wondering… what happened, right?"

Just how was he supposed to explain this?

"I'm not blind or stupid," Lyn shot back, seemingly unfazed by his change. And apparently recognizing him despite the lack of shaggy brown fur. "I don't think you need to tell me what I just saw – I want you to tell me why the freaking heck you're letting my best friend get killed and dragging me off somewhere!"

Hm. Well, that definitely wasn't the response Jacob had been expecting. Not only was she _not_ completely terrified by the realization that monsters were real but she was also either brave or stupid enough to be snapping at someone she knew could turn into a giant wolf. Forcibly reminded of Bella, Jacob inwardly winced.

The resemblance between the two girls ended with that attitude toward mythological beings, though, he comforted himself by noticing. This girl was a lot taller than Bella though of course still significantly shorter than him. Her build was different, too – Bella was small and thin but this girl's body was wired with lean muscle that made her look like an athlete of some sort. Her hair was a darker shade of brown, so dark that it was almost black, and the eyes she was currently using to glare at him with were green and full of fire.

Green eyes were a sign of Irish ancestry and he seemed to remember his dad saying something about Irish tempers. Actually, that might explain _a lot_ about this girl.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Lyn interrupted his thoughts by smacking him in the shoulder. Very ineffectually, but still. "Answer the dadgum question!"

Jacob stared. "No one's killing your friend – the pack is making sure of that. And what is with you? How are you not completely freaked by this?"

"So she's okay," Lyn said with a soft sigh, looking relieved.

"Look, it'll be okay," Jacob assured her, his voice getting softer too as he realized she had been acting tough to hide the fact that she had been worried about her friend. She was definitely a better actress than Bella, anyway.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Lyn muttered darkly, her gaze flicking back toward the trees. She figured it would be no use to make a run for it, since he could outrun her anyway. She would just have to trust the others to keep her best friend safe.

Dang it, she hated feeling so useless.


	3. A Rose by Any Other Name

Disclaimer: We do not own Twilight or any of the copyrighted stuff.

A/N: Lyn: :O More writing?!

Reneey: Apparently so!

---

**Chapter Three – A Rose by Any Other Name**

Jacob sighed as Lyn was pacing back and forth, muttering to herself. Wanting to prevent her from having a nervous breakdown, he placed a hand on her shoulder which caused her to stop in her tracks. "Look, it's not your fault, so don't beat yourself up. Plus, she'll be fine with the others."

"I never said I'm blaming myself," Lyn muttered darkly without looking at him. "But if there's one thing I can't stand, it's feeling useless."

"Well, there is literally nothing you could do. You just have to trust me when I say that she is safe. Those leeches won't dare touch her; they don't want a war," Jacob tried to reassure her.

Lyn chuckled darkly and smirked at him. "Way to make me feel not useless, kid."

Jacob twitched. "Kid? I'm not a kid," he said through gritted teeth.

Lyn laughed softly at his reaction but the expression in her eyes didn't change. "Relax. I'm from Tennessee; if I don't go around calling everyone 'kid' or 'hon,' there's something wrong with me. And last I checked, you hadn't introduced yourself, so what else am I supposed to call you? Wolfy boy?"

Jacob growled softly as his twitch went faster. "My name is Jacob Black. So who are you?"

"Lyn Elumo," she answered with a soft sigh. At least now she didn't have to worry about randomly knowing his name when she wasn't supposed to, anyway; one small thing off her mind. "I would offer to shake your hand but something tells me you'd probably crush it."

Jacob blinked and tilted his head. "What makes you say that?"

"Um, gee, maybe the fact that you're a seven foot tall musclehead who turns into a wolf?" Lyn suggested in a this-is-obvious voice.

"Hey!" Jacob objected. "I'm 6'8"! That's four inches less than seven feet, thank you!"

Lyn rolled her eyes. "Excuse my estimations for being four inches off. Next time I wake up in the middle of the woods with a friend who apparently has dissociative identity disorder and turns into a wolf in her spare time, I'll bring a ruler."

Jacob rolled his eyes too and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, the bloodsuckers left awhile ago; their scent's gone from the area. So there – she's safe."

Lyn nodded slowly and sighed, sitting down at the base of a nearly tree so she could lean back against it and close her eyes. "Good."

---

Reneey let out a groan as she was pulled into Seth's arms but snuggled closer anyway for warmth since ¾ of her clothing was cut apart from the transformation. Seth looked down at her and let out a small smile as he pulled her closer.

_How could he?_ Paul demanded as the other wolves watched the fifteen-year-old smiling at the girl in his arms. Like the others, his eyes were scanning for any sign the bloodsuckers were about to return, but naturally he also found time to rant. _She's a _werewolf_!_

_And we are also wolves,_ Sam thought calmly but the others could tell he was also worried about how this would work out.

_Leah's gonna flip,_ Quil added with a groan.

_She's still a Child of the Moon! Those Volturi bastards Bella told Jake about will be out looking for her, not to mention the Cullens will know! She'll put all of us in danger!_ Paul snapped.

_What would you rather do, kill her?_ Embry asked in his quiet but unignorable way. _Go ahead. Then you and Seth can fight to the death over it. Something tells me Leah will be even more upset if you try to kill her little brother._

_Let's just get back to La Push and we can work it out there,_ Sam said, his unspoken edict effectively silencing further conversation on the matter. _Besides, there's really nothing else we could do right now… I hope Jacob is having better luck with the human girl…_

---

Jacob sniffed the air. "They'll be here soon. They have your friend with them so those leeches didn't get her."

"You keep calling them leeches," Lyn observed, trying to sound curious even though she already knew the answer and was just covering her bases. She didn't need them wondering how she knew things she wasn't supposed to on top of everything else. "What exactly does that mean?"

Jacob sighed. Well, there really wasn't any use lying to her now. "They're vampires… and we don't really… get along with them very well."

"Jacob!" Leah's voice cut in before Lyn could say anything. "I heard what happened… What is a human doing here?" she added in a whisper to Jacob.

"'That human' has a name, you know," Lyn interrupted in return, her voice icy. "It's Lyn and I'd appreciate being called by it."

"Had to get her away from the bloodsuckers," Jacob said simply with a shrug. "She already saw, obviously, so it's not a problem." He paused and asked slowly, "Exactly how much do you know?"

Before the conversation could continue any further, the other members of the pack emerged from the woods, already changed into human forms, presumably so they wouldn't scare Lyn.

"Here?!" Leah screeched in a whisper tone. "You brought the werewolf here?! Are you crazy?! And why is Seth with her alone?!"

"'The werewolf' has a name, too," Lyn snapped but before she could go any further, Sam spoke up.

"We had no choice. Seth imprinted," Sam said in his no-nonsense tone. But nonetheless he really hoped he wouldn't have to force Leah into wolf form and lay an edict on her to keep her calm. "She won't change back again until the next full moon so I told him to keep her in the woods until she wakes up and we're sure she's not dangerous in her human form."

Horror spread onto Leah's face. "But a werewolf?! A werewolf?! She'll kill him! And everybody else! If we weren't there or those leeches, who knows what she would have done to that human! It's fake – that imprinting has to be false!"

Leah was freaking out. How could her little brother love such a monster? No, be forced to love. That was what imprinting did, after all, she mentally raged. Seth would never choose to love something like that. He was her baby brother.

"If Reneey was going to kill me, I would have been dead," Lyn interrupted with a glare. "Your leeches or vampires or whatever the heck they are can't keep up with her. She started to attack me then turned around – _that's_ when the freaky blond moron tried to kill her."

The whole pack blinked and adopted various expressions of confusion. "That Child of the Moon attacked you?" Sam asked, voicing their concern. "But you don't have a scratch on you! Werewolves can't reason when they're in wolf mode… There has to be something strange about you."

Lyn laughed softly. "At least you're slightly more polite than most people about telling me there's something wrong with me. In this instance, however, I think I have to argue. Reneey didn't do anything wrong – she didn't even bother blond dude until he freaking stabbed her with his nails or some bizarre Lady Deathstrike type thing."

Sam sighed. "Look, let's just talk about this tomorrow. We're all tired and Lyn and Reneey are probably hungry so let's eat, sleep, and solve this in the morning."

"She's not sta –"

Before Leah could finish her sentence, Sam sent her a glare. She shut up but glared at the trees anyway.

---

Seth sat down on a rock with Reneey in his lap. Smiling softly, he stroked her hair, nuzzling the back of her neck and breathing in her scent. Reneey let out a groan as she felt it then opened her eyes and saw black and brown. Immediately, her eyes went wide and she demanded in an uncharacteristically dangerous tone, "Who the hell are you?!"

Seth was taken aback a little bit. "I'm Seth Clearwater. I brought you here – don't worry; you're safe."

Reneey scoffed. "Safe? Being a werewolf is different from being a shapeshifter. I'm never safe."

---

"She's awake," Jacob said softly. "She'll be confused and dangerous… Hey, where do you think you're going?!" he shouted as Lyn darted off into the woods.

"To find Reneey – so far the only person we know for sure she won't kill is me, so what the heck is your problem?" Lyn snapped over her shoulder as he ran into the trees after her.

"We should go along," Leah said slowly.

"No. Reneey must trust Lyn… If we go, it could set her off," Sam said firmly.

"But –"

"End of discussion, Leah. We stay here."

---

As Lyn came into the clearing, Reneey sniffed the air and looked at her. "You… Why do I feel like I know you?"

"Well duh, because you do," Lyn said in a this-is-obvious voice but her smile was strained. "When are you gonna quit going all psycho wolf on me and remember that?"

Reneey glared at her. "Who are you? And why did you call me Rea? Nobody ever calls me that… My name is Irina."

Lyn made a face. "Dude, you hate that name. That _cannot_ have changed that quickly."

"Listen, I don't know who you are or how you know me… but there is something that's keeping me from ripping you apart… something strange about you…"

"Oh for the love of Axl Rose, not you too!" Lyn said, planting her palm in the middle of her forehead. "The strange thing is that you're acting like somebody dissected part of your brain, kiddo."

Seth cleared his throat to interrupt them. "Um, well, you two could stay here for the night."

"Yeah, my dad will want to talk to you two," Jacob said from where he had stopped at the edge of the clearing to keep from spooking Reneey. "One of you can borrow my sisters' room."

"Reneey can have my room," Seth offered quickly.

Reneey growled. "Whatever – and it's Irina!"


	4. Reneey Returns

Disclaimer: We do not own Twilight or any of the copyrighted stuff.

A/N: Reneey: Love you watchers but anybody wanna review? Please?

---

**Chapter Four – Reneey Returns**

Reneey was still weak from the transformation so Seth carried her to Billy.

"Are you okay? You seem a bit worried," Jacob said to Lyn as they walked side by side.

Lyn didn't turn her head, just looked at him out of the corners of her eyes. "My best friend just turned into a wolf and doesn't remember me anymore. Did you expect me to be fine?"

"I'm sorry… Maybe she just lost her memory temporarily?" Jacob suggested.

"Maybe," Lyn said softly, but she didn't sound hopeful. Then she smiled wryly and added, "I doubt it, though. That wouldn't fit very well with the whole going-to-hell-in-a-handbasket theme of my life."

Jacob had to chuckle at that as he shook his head. "It will be okay… Billy will know what to do… He usually always does."

Lyn raised an eyebrow. "You call your dad by his name?" She laughed softly. "Dang. I would've gotten smacked for that."

Jacob bristled at that. "Smacked? What do you mean by that?"

Lyn just shrugged. "Like I said earlier, I'm from the south. They're big into corporal punishment. Hardly the worst experience of my life."

"Ah, so you're here," Billy said as they came into the Blacks' house. His kind eyes immediately turned on Reneey. "How do you feel, child?"

"I'm not a child!" Reneey spat. "My name is Irina!"

"Of course… my apologies," Billy said kindly.

"Calm down, Rea," Lyn said with a frown. "He's just trying to be nice. Be glad somebody gives a crap."

Reneey turned to glare at Lyn. "I told you, call me Irina!"

"No, it's understandable… especially this being her first transformation," Billy said.

"Irina's not your name anyway," Lyn said, rolling her eyes. "It's just the English translation – you were born in Uzbekistan. Don't lecture me about what your name is."

"Well, it's the name I want you to call me by!" Reneey snapped.

"You don't even remember what name you want me to call you by," Lyn shot back.

"Girls, stop this," Billy said with a frown. "Irina… This is your first transformation and many others will come just as painfully. I believe this shock has left you with no memory… Whether it will come back, only time will tell."

"So you're saying she could be stuck like this," Lyn said quietly.

"I'm sorry, dear," Billy said and he sounded like he genuinely meant it. "But only time will tell… Right now you two need rest. You're probably hungry too, aren't you?"

"I don't eat much," Lyn evaded, crossing her arms and avoiding his gaze. "Or sleep, really. I'm fine."

"Well, alright… If you say so," Billy said with a nod of his head.

"You can sleep in my room," Seth offered to Reneey with a smile. "It's kind of small, but the bed's cozy." He took her hand tentatively and led her off toward his house.

Lyn sighed heavily and rubbed her temple. "Well, this has been a sufficiently confusing and stressful day."

Jacob smiled slightly. "Actually, technically it's about one AM now, so most of this happened yesterday."

"That's helpful, thanks so much," Lyn said darkly, shaking her head and sighing. "Anybody have a sudoku to keep me from going crazy before dawn?"

---

It was morning and a scream cut into it from within the Clearwaters' home. "WHERE THE FUCK AM I?!" Reneey yelled as he woke up in a strange room. "LYNNI!"

Seth fell off the couch when Reneey screamed and ran in with wide eyes, not understanding what had happened when she seemed to be alright. "Irina? What's wrong?"

"Irina…? How the fuck do you know my name? Where's Lyn, who are you, and where the hell am I?!"

"I – what do you mean?" Seth asked slowly, frowning. "I'm Seth, remember? Lyn's at Jake's still, I guess."

Reneey narrowed her eyes. "Where is Lyn? I want her here now!"

"Uh… Okay, sure. Just stay here and I'll call Jake, okay?"

---

Jacob was still a little bleary-eyed as he hung up the phone and looked at Lyn, who still sat on the couch with a stack of old newspapers containing various Sudoku and word search puzzles. "We have to go to Seth's – Irina is screaming for you and she says she doesn't know where she is or who Seth is."

Lyn frowned. "Has she forgotten more?"

"I don't know but we'd better go before she goes off on Seth."

---

"Lyn!" Reneey ran to her friend and hugged her tightly. She was frantic, terrified and so lost. "Where are we? Where did you go? Who are these people?"

"Rea?" Lyn asked slowly, patting the top of Reneey's head uncertainly. "You… uh… know me now…?"

"… Well, um… no duh… and why the hell are you patting me?"

Lyn grinned. "'Cuz I wanna. And, uh…" She pulled back a little so she could catch Reneey's eye and tell her to keep her mouth shut. "These are Seth Clearwater and Jacob Black. They kind of… um… Wanna help me out with an explanation here, guys…?"

Reneey raised an eyebrow. Going against her natural instinct to spaz that she was in Twilight, she decided or once to keep her mouth shut and listen to Lyn.

"Uh… well, Dad did say that the memory loss could be temporary," Jacob said after a long pause.

Lyn slammed her palm into her face. "I meant about what happened! I kind of don't know how to even begin explaining last night."

"Last night? We were at the movies… and I dropped Larry," Reneey remembered.

"Larry?" Seth asked.

"The eyeliner pen… I never did find him!" Reneey pouted.

"Yeah, well, there's kind of a good reason for that," Lyn said dryly. "I still have no clue how we wound up in the woods but yeah. You went spastic, had no idea who I was, and turned into a wolf. Oh and did I mention this freaky blond guy named Jasper who apparently is a vampire tried to kill you before these guys, who apparently also can turn into wolves but somehow aren't werewolves which I'm not sure I completely understand but whatever, then showed up and dragged us off?"

Reneey blinked, tilted her head and went, "Hhhuuhh…?"

Jacob sighed. "Let's contact the others."

"Just let me," Seth said. "It'll be easier than explaining." He caught Reneey's eye and smiled tentatively. "Don't freak out, okay?"

"Aw, Seth – your clothes!" Jacob complained as Seth phased without taking his clothes off and they were promptly shredded as the big, sandy wolf emerged. "Leah'll find some way to blame me for this…"

Reneey blinked and looked at Seth's wolf form. "Um… awesome…? So I turned into that…?" she asked, looking at Lyn.

"Uh… No, not quite," Lyn said, eyeing Seth as she spoke. "You're kinda… smaller… more gray than brown… less wolfish, more humanish still… Well, not how you act, but kinda… I mean, you stand up and stuff…"

"… You mean a werewolf…?"

"Well, yeah, that's what I said, isn't it?" Lyn asked, blinking.

Reneey nodded her head, then her eyes went back into her head and she fainted. Seth quickly caught her on his back before she hit her head on the floor and Lyn groaned. "Come on, Rea – I saw all this crap going down and I didn't faint like a sissy!"

Seth growled softly but Lyn smacked him on the nose. "Oh be quiet – she's my best friend, we rag on each other. Deal with it."

Jacob couldn't help but smirk. This girl had some guts to go off on a wolf nearly as tall as her, he had to give her that.


	5. Talk about Imprinting

Disclaimer: We do not own Twilight or any of the copyrighted stuff.

A/N: Lyn: I'm totally running out of chapter names. Sorry. XD

Reneey: So review and give us suggestions?

---

**Chapter Five – Talk about Imprinting**

Reneey's nose twitched as she felt fur around her face hours later. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that she was lying down on something furry… on Seth's back. Groaning, she got up slowly. "Ow, my head hurts…"

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Lyn muttered from where she sat on the Clearwaters' couch, beside Jacob and on the opposite end from a very upset-looking Leah. Somehow, Sam and the others had managed to cram themselves into the little living room, too. Jerking her head at them, Lyn added, "I think they've come to make sure we weren't hallucinating when we told them you're not a psychotic axe murderer. They really need to figure out that's _my_ shtick."

Reneey nodded her head slowly and cuddled closer to the warmth, yawning softly. "So like… um… could anyone explain…?"

"Well, it seems as though you don't remember anything," Billy said as he scratched his chin. "I guess now we know for sure… You don't remember anything at all when you're in werewolf mode… but you remember everything except that night when the full moon is in the sky… Yes… Interesting…"

"Yeah, real interesting," Paul growled. Quil elbowed him and he fell silent.

"It seems that she doesn't pose a threat, at least while she's human," Sam said slowly.

Reneey sighed. "So what now exactly?"

"Well, you two will stay with us," Billy stated matter-of-factly. "You'll join the La Push pack."

"What?!" Leah exclaimed. "The human can stay, sure, but a werewolf?!"

That was right about when Lyn snapped. "Okay, you've done nothing but go off on people since I've been here. I hate to break this to you, sweetheart, but in the technical sense of the word – were, Anglo-Saxon for man, and wolf, self-explanatory – _you're all werewolves_. She's already proved she's not gonna randomly kill people so what the freaking heck is your problem?!"

Leah stood up. "The problem is that my baby brother will not love a monster!"

Lyn stood up, too – a much more impressive move in her case because she was about two inches taller than Leah if they had both been barefoot and even more so in her heels. "Yeah? Well, I think _you're_ the problem, you little prick."

Sam stood up next and pushed himself between the two girls. "Now, everybody calm down! Seth has imprinted on Reneey. Leah, I'm sorry but there is nothing you can do about that."

"Why do you people keep talking about her like she's not here or some kind of inferior life form?" Lyn demanded, glaring at him. "She's a human being, not a cockroach!"

"Lynni… it's okay, I'm used to it anyway. My family always does that," Reneey said to calm her friend down. "I'm fine."

A muscle in Lyn's jaw twitched. "Stop telling me not to stand up for you when you never will. You don't deserve this crap and you _shouldn't_ be used to it."

Sam sighed. "Leah, go wait outside.

"Bu –"

"Now!" he ordered. Leah got up and left and Sam turned to Lyn. "I'm sorry for how she acted. Leah's… easily upset."

"If she went off on people like that where I come from, she'd have a few shotgun rounds in her chest," Lyn growled darkly as she turned away from him and headed for the back door, opposite where Leah had exited. "Bicker all you want to; I'm going for a walk."

"Wait!" Reneey said as she got up. "Could I come with you…?"

Lyn smirked over her shoulder. "You think you could keep up with me, kiddo?"

Reneey pouted and looked down. "No… but I don't just wanna stay here alone without you!"

Lyn sighed and shook her head. "I need to run. Get things out of my system." She forced a wry smile. "Don't wanna break anything in the house or Leah'll actually have reason to be mad, you know?" The false amusement disappeared immediately as she added, "Seth will stay with you."

"Mkay… be safe, honey," Reneey said as she snuggled closer to Seth's warmth as Lyn walked out the door. Seth nuzzled Reneey's shoulder and curled his tail around her to keep her warm.

"Remind me to break Leah's nose later," Jacob growled as he headed toward the door too. "I'm gonna make sure she doesn't get lost, she doesn't know her way around here yet…"

Lyn sighed heavily as he walked up beside her. "You know, I've had several people stalk me in my life, but you're definitely the most persistent."

Jacob shook his head. "You don't know these parts… You could get lost or attacked."

Lyn's jaw set. "Yeah, I guess you and your friends would much rather Reneey ran off by herself, huh?"

Jacob sighed. "Listen… Leah is just overprotective of her brother… and the Cullens already have the Volturi looking this way… If they come, the whole pack could end up getting killed… She and the rest of them are only worried for Seth and our safety."

"Death's just another path," Lyn said, shrugging. "And as far as I can tell, there aren't many ways it can be any worse than life, so why waste energy fearing it?"

"Well, try telling them that," Jacob said, shrugging too. "They won't listen."

"Neither will you, so let me translate for you: If I die, I die. I don't need you to stalk me to prevent that."

"Well, I'll still be here to protect you the best way I can."

Lyn sighed heavily and shot him a resigned sort of sideways glare. "I suppose there's no point trying to outrun you, is there?"

Jacob grinned. "Nope, sorry."

"And kicking you in the face would probably just dislocate my toes."

"Yep. Plus I heal really quickly so even if you managed to hurt me, it wouldn't matter much."

"Any chance I could distract you by throwing a stick and yelling 'fetch'?"

Jacob twitched. "No. I'll chase you down for that."

Lyn considered that. "Would picking up a ruler and threatening your life work? My cousin runs away screaming like a girl when I do that and he's also a six-something giant named Jacob."

"… A ruler?" Jacob burst out laughing.

Lyn just shrugged. "Apparently I'm intimidating to people who can't turn into zoo animals on command."

Jacob shook his head. "Nope, sorry. There's not much you can do to keep me away from you."

"I wouldn't say that," Lyn contradicted. "I could kill myself. Unfortunately I'm not the suicidal type, though, so I guess I'm stuck with you."

Jacob looked at her sternly. "I'll be here to make sure you don't."

"Please," Lyn said, rolling her eyes and scoffing. "I know how to stop a human heart in less than three seconds; I doubt you're that good. Anyway, if I was the type to take the easy way out, I would've done it a long time ago."

Jacob sighed and shook his head. "That's not really what I mean… You know how… Seth imprinted on Reneey? … Wait, do you know what imprinting means?"

"Not really," Lyn said, shrugging but not sounding very interested either. Of course, that would probably be because she was totally lying and tired of pretending she didn't know things.

"Well, it basically… binds you to the person, I guess… It's like something stronger than life draws you to them and you would break all the world's laws just to give them whatever they want or need. They become your other half… a part of you that you never knew was missing until you found it."

"Very poetic," Lyn observed with a nod.

"Well…" Jacob looked away for a second then looked back. "I found my other half."

Lyn blinked, looking confused. "And she told you to come stalk me…?"

Jacob shook his head. "No…"

Lyn blinked again. "_He_ told you to come stalk me?"

Jacob face-palmed. "No! It's you!"

Lyn stopped dead and she could feel her face taking on an expression of complete confusion and disbelief that was almost immediately overshadowed by anger but couldn't stop it. She wasn't Renesmee, so what the heck was he trying to pull, anyway? "… Excuse me?"

Jacob sighed and looked away, taking her anger the wrong way because he didn't understand the train of thought behind it. "It's not something that can be explained… It just happens."

"Right – to you, with me," Lyn repeated in a tone of accusing disbelief. "Seth and Reneey I can buy, but you?" Of course, she couldn't tell him why she knew it couldn't be true but that didn't mean she would let him lie to her, either.

Jacob sighed and looked away. "I don't know… It just happens. I don't fully understand it but it just happens. But it doesn't have to be that way," he added, trying to keep the burn of what he was saying from showing on his face. Obviously she hated and didn't want him but he couldn't help the way he was drawn to her. "I can stay back… You don't even have to see me." _As long as I can still keep her safe from a distance, if that's what she wants…_

Meanwhile, Lyn's paranoia tendencies were setting in. What if the whole Seth thing was made up, too? What if all of this was just an elaborate ruse to keep her away from Reneey? What if they had been planning to get her away and kill Reneey all along?

"What do you want?" she asked sharply, an edge of panic creeping into her eyes and her voice. "Why the heck would you tell me that?"

"Because that's why I keep following you around… to keep you protected and safe." Jacob looked back at her and frowned deeply. He wanted to reach out toward her but her fear told him not to do that. "… You don't have to be afraid of me."

Lyn shifted back into anger mode at that, her fists clenching at her sides until her nails dug into her palms. "Why are you lying to me?!"

Jacob's frown only deepened. "I'm not lying to you, Lyn!"

"Then give me one freaking reason I should believe you!"

"Because why else would I randomly leave my pack for some girl?!"

Lyn blinked. "What do you mean?"

"They're my family – why else would I leave them there in the middle of all of that with a werewolf who, like it or not, might still be dangerous just to follow you out here and make sure _you're_ safe?"

Lyn paused, trying to rationalize. "Maybe Sam told you to."

"Sam just wants Leah to calm down."

"Look, it just doesn't make any sense, okay? I mean, why me? _How_ me?"

"I told you, it just happens!"

"Not to me," Lyn said, shaking her head. "I'm not even freaking supposed to be here. You're lying, you have to be."

"I'm not lying!" Jacob objected. "You just have to trust me on this!"

Lyn froze for a split second as that same line replayed in her head in someone else's voice. It wasn't the first time she had heard those exact words and the last time hadn't been a pleasant experience. Her voice went low and acidic as she replied, "Trust is earned, not given. And I'm not the world's best at dishing it out either."

Jacob sighed. "I'll do whatever is best for you. If you want me gone… then I'll leave."

Lyn shook her head and looked away from him. Her voice was softer though as she said, "You don't want to know what I really want."

Jacob's arms wrapped around her shoulders and he pulled her toward him gently. "It will be okay, Lyn… I promise."

None of this made any sense but Lyn was too tired to care. She let him pull her to him without complaint even though his skin felt like it was on fire in comparison to the chill air. If she had remembered how to cry, she might have, but she had lost that ability long ago. "You can't promise me anything. No one can."

His fingers lightly stroked her hair. "It will be okay… Everything will be alright. Reneey is safe in La Push and you're safe here with me."

"Safe from what?" Lyn muttered darkly. "I'm not afraid to die. It's living that's painful."

"But I'll be here, and Reneey will be here."

"For now. Nothing ever stays that way for me." _And even if you do think you've imprinted on me… Renesmee isn't born yet._

"But this will, I'll make sure of it," Jacob said with a confident grin.

Lyn just nodded and didn't argue. He wasn't lying, she had decided that. So the only option left was that he honestly believed it. Too bad she knew better.


End file.
